Living
by PutAnotherX
Summary: Those who walk amongst the dead will always struggle to fit in amongst the living. No one knows that better than Ellie. Except maybe Jed. But when they told her he was gone, she never expected him to come back. Especially not so... alive. Ryan lost his best friend to Bedlam. When he gets him back, he'll be damned if he lets him out of his sight ever again. Formatting fixed.
1. Chapter 1

The last thing Jed remembered was that symbol. The intricate "B" cast in wrought iron all around the building, but this time it was carved into the back of a bare head.

The next thing he was aware of was dust. His mouth was filled with it, his face completely covered. His clothes were caked and crusted with the stuff. An ashen cloud formed in the air when he coughed, carving out a single layer of it from his lungs. He rubbed his eyes, but all it did was move the dust around.

When he dared to open his eyes, the sky was blue. Bluer than he'd ever seen it at Bedlam, with birds singing cheerfully and swooping about from tree to tree. His head lay on the plush emerald grass, one leg on top of a pile of rubble and one trapped under it. A quick tug sent pain shooting through him, starting in his thigh, deep in his bone. When he tried to speak, nothing came out but more dust and the kind of deep, guttural cough that would get one locked up in a quarantine ward.

Every ragged breath he took was more aching than the last, and his heart gradually caught on that he was alive, pumping more feeling into his body with each heavy thud. Voices were calling out to him through the ringing in his ears. A girl popped up above him. He could hear her speaking, but the words she was using were absolutely lost on him. Her dark hair bounced over him while her hands searched his body. It dawned on Jed that she actually seemed to know what she was doing. Her voice faded into the foreground.

"An ambulance, Keira," she ordered sharply. "He's hurt!" There was something in her face clawing at his memory. The familiar color of her eyes, the slope of her nose, and the freckles mapping out important landmarks on her skin.

It hit him like a building collapse.

"Eve," he croaked barely audible, though he was still not sure why he remembered that name. "You're Eve."


	2. Chapter 2

It was the quietest week Ellie had ever had at Brightmoor. Even Warren's funeral, packed in the tiny chapel stored away in the farthest corner of the grounds, was utterly devoid of remnant activity. Max had told her Joseph had scared them off.

Although she was glad to be able to walk around freely without getting that gut-punched feeling of being soaked in anguish and brutally wrung out, Ellie was entirely sure that it wasn't worth it. There was no getting use to those black, empty eyes, but people had died for her one safe week. And Joseph Bale was still out there somewhere.

Keira sat next to her in the pew, pointing out key figures while the vicar lead the prayers.

"Those are Jed's parents," she whispered much too loudly, indicating a middle aged couple in the front row. "Warren's sister and her husband. Quite sad, really. They only just lost their son. Now their niece and their brother as well." Ellie nodded, not bothering to tell Keira to hush. She'd learned it was a waste of breath. Max rolled his eyes on the other side of her, but he didn't bother either. Dan was somewhere in the back row, head hung low.

The woman—Joan Harper, if Ellie remembered correctly—had puffy eyes rimmed in red, and her shoulders crumpled into her husband's arms. Kate's funeral the day before had seen the poor woman much the same way. Her thin lips and large blue eyes directly linked her to Kate. Ellie imagined Kate as a little girl, hearing how much she looked like her aunt. A sharp pang filled her knowing it'd never happen again.

"They were twins, you know," Keira said. "Warren and Joan. Very close from what I've heard."

"We're at a funeral, Keira," Max whispered, leaning around Ellie. "Could you keep your voice down?"

She just pouted and stuck out the tip of her tongue at him. For the first time all week, Ellie cracked a smile.

"You two can go on ahead," Keira said a few meters from the chapel, shifting her weight from one stilettoed foot to the other. "I think I'm going to take a walk."

"Would you like some company?" Ellie offered. Keira seemed to consider it for a second.

"Actually. That sounds lovely."

* * *

Brightmoor was uncharacteristically gorgeous. The crystal blue sky was unmarred by a single cloud, and birds flitted about gaily.

"It's so perfect out," Keira griped as they walked. "It doesn't seem right, does it?" Ellie hummed in agreement. "My best friend and my... whatever he was. Both gone. And the world is just going on anyway. And I haven't even cried yet. Not really, I mean. It's a bit messed up."

"You haven't processed it yet," Ellie said. "I've seen it happen. People can go days or weeks before—" A thunderous roar cut her off, a mushroom cloud of grey dust cutting into the air. Keira and Ellie exchanged looks before breaking out into a sprint towards the commotion.

There, on the ground, where scaffolding and bricks used to be, was a pile of rubble and a man. He was ashen from the top of his head to where his legs disappeared underneath the wreckage. Ellie would have been sure he was dead if he didn't try to wipe his face and let out a truly deathly cough, spreading more dust into the air.

"He's alive, Keira!" she shouted. She reached him far quicker than Keira, due in large part to the inappropriate funeral attire she had on, but it was Keira who recognized him.

"Oh, god," she whispered, her voice quieter than Ellie had ever heard it. She kneeled beside him, grass staining the knees of her black tights. "Jed. Ellie, this is Jed."

Ellie's hands instinctively found their way around his body, pressing to check for trauma. His brown eyes—the only bit of color she could see on him—followed her dazedly.

"Call an ambulance, Keira," she ordered. "He's hurt!" Her phone was out before Ellie could blink, and her dialing was just as fast. The man's eyes studied Ellie's face.

"Eve," he rasped through the ash that was surely coating his throat. "You're Eve."


	3. Chapter 3

The harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital had always had a way of draining the color out of people, but Jed was still a few shades darker once he was divested of the ash that had covered him. He looked peaceful to Ellie, and more alive than anyone who ought to be dead had any right to look. She had taken to anxiously checking the IV in his hand every few minutes as if she could actually do something if it were wrong.

The room was tiny, not meant for as many people as they had packed in it.

"Do any of you have any emergency contact information for him?" the nurse asked, her pen poised to write on the memo pad in her hand. Ellie cast a meaningful look to Keira and Max.

Keira frowned. "I would have called Kate," she said. "Or Warren. I have no idea."

"What about their flat mate Ryan?" Max asked. "I have his number."

"Good enough for me," the nurse said, and Max recited the information from his contacts list. Ellie took the moment to search Jed's features for an answer to any of the questions pounding through her brain.

She didn't know what she expected, but she got nothing.

* * *

A tentative knock on the door startled the three out of their collective stupor. Max crossed the room in long strides to answer it. The man behind it was disheveled to say the least. His blue-grey eyes were red-rimmed with dark circles carved underneath them, and his brown hair stuck up at odd angles. His clothes were wrinkled, mismatched, and tucked into each other at odd places.

"You better not be fucking with me, Max," the man said, "or so help me God, I'll—"

He stopped talking when he saw Jed, and Ellie could have picked his jaw up off the floor.

"Ryan," Max began, "it's him, right?"

The man—Ryan—nodded, obviously blinking back tears.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

Ellie spoke up, "It's just a broken leg and some cuts and bruises. They had to sedate him because he was fighting them."

"He was upset," Ryan said, his voice choking. It wasn't a question. "How long until he wakes up?"

"Should be any time now," Max answered. Ryan took a chair from the corner and pulled it up by the bedside, his eyes never leaving Jed for a nanosecond.

It was thirteen minutes. When Jed's eyes fluttered open, Ryan was the first thing they locked on.

"Ry," he huffed out, "Ryan, I don't want to be here."

He tried to sit up, but Ryan's arm appeared to push him back down.

"I know, Jed, but I promise they won't keep you. You won't even be in the same ward, alright? How are you feeling?"

"Like a building fell on me, Ryan," Jed snarked. "How do you think I feel? I want to get out of here."

Ellie interjected, "I don't think that's a good idea." Instantly, she felt the stares of Ryan and Jed.

"Who the hell are you?" Ryan demanded. His eyes were narrowed and cold. Jed's were softer, searching her face as if she were familiar. For all she knew, she might be.

"I'm Ellie," she said. "I found him. I'm also a paramedic. You should stay here for observation, Jed. At least for the night." Jed's eyes shifted back to Ryan.

"I appreciate your input, Ellie," Ryan said, his voice dripping in practiced politeness, "but he's not staying here a second longer than he has to. Can you all give us a minute?"

* * *

They all filed out into the hall, giving each other meaningful looks. The nurse who had taken Jed's emergency contact information strode past them to the room. Dan chose this moment to speak for the first time since they'd gotten to the hospital.

"They're going to need somewhere to stay," he said slowly, considering each word. His friends watched him. "I'm going to offer them a flat."

Keira gave him a look that Ellie couldn't decipher. "Dan, you—"

"Bedl—Brightmoor is mine now," Dan said, interrupting her. "Jed is family and it's pretty obvious Ryan's not going to let him out of his sight. I've made up my mind."

Keira shrugged. "I wasn't going to try to talk you out of it. I think you're right."

Ellie didn't say what she wanted to. That Bedlam needed Jed. That he could be her brother. That ever since he had been gone, she'd gotten stuck with his old abilities, and she didn't know how any of this would work. That she was terrified to find out.

She didn't say anything, just nodded along to Dan's words.


End file.
